House of Leaves

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Mark Z. Danielewski's 2000 debut novel, House of Leaves, is the story of a family, the Navidson's, that moves into a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Or is it? When an old blind man, Zampano, dies, a tattoo shop employee searching for a new apartment, Johnny Truant, discovers a manuscript written by Zampano about a documentary film called The Navidson Record, as he sorts through Zampano's belongings. However, Johnny is unable to find any evidence that the movie exists. As he reads, he tells his own story through footnotes, which often become chapter length, and sometimes contain footnotes themselves. And Johnny becomes unhinged as he becomes obsessed with Zampano's writings. Meanwhile, back at the Navidson home, all sorts of weird things are happening. A small hallway takes 5 1/2 minutes to walk down. The basement becomes stories deep. Family patriarch Will Navidson descends into madness while attempting to figure out his new digs. Because Zampano was blind, much of what Johnny reads is contained on scraps of paper, and the book is formatted to match. Some pages have only a few sentences, or even words. At one point, you are literally reading in circles, and have to actually turn the book in a circle in order to follow Zampano's words. This cult classic is seriously the coolest novel that I have ever read! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/6363/mark-z-danielewski